In regard to a measuring section on a rail, a generic device is known, for example, from the document DE 10 2006 015 A1. It relates to a measuring section on a rail, comprising a plurality of diagnostic devices which are arranged spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the rail and underneath the rail, and which detect the forces acting on the rail. For this purpose, the rail is immovably clamped onto an adapter plate which is supported via an intermediate plate on a load cell. The load cell is fastened to a carrier element which is anchored in a ballast bed. Between a rail foot and the load cell, foils or inflexible material plates, which are not described in more detail, are placed therebetween and are intended primarily for electrical insulation and for a reliable detection of the forces by the load cell and by an electrical evaluation unit connected to the load cell.
From GB 801912 A, a rail fastening is known wherein between a rail foot and a concrete sleeper, an intermediate plate consisting of rubber is placed which, on the one hand, effects an electrical insulation and, on the other, provides for an elastic support of the rail on the sleeper. The concrete sleeper is usually anchored in a ballast bed. A similar device is disclosed in DE 28 06 817 B1.
In DE 10 2005 057 473 A1, a measuring body is described which absorbs the forces acting on the rail and transfers said forces either into the sleeper or into a slab track. The term “slab track” generally designates a continuous concrete foundation which extends in the longitudinal direction of the rails and which replaces the otherwise usual ballast bed.
The use of load cells, as they are basically known from the document DE 39 37 318 A1, requires that deformation parts deform within the load cell under the action of the force to be measured, whereby the electrical resistance of the strain gages attached to the deformation parts changes, which can be detected as measured value. A precise measurement by means of deformation parts such as, e.g., load cells or strain gages, requires a construction of the measuring setup as rigid as possible.
On the other hand, such a rigid fastening system consisting of rail, receiving plate, measuring device and solid concrete track does not correspond to the realistic situation of a ballast track system. The deviation can lead to the situation that the changes of the electrical resistance of the deformation parts do not behave proportionally anymore to the forces to be measured as they occur in a realistic system. Also, an adhesive bond of the ballast can not result in a reliable manner in a realistic system. Therefore, the known devices can not be used for a realistic measurement of the forces and/or torques acting on the rail when a vehicle drives over the latter.
However, in practice there is a great demand for a device for measuring loads between rail vehicles and the track system which provides realistic as well as reproducible results. The request for measurements of realistic vertical wheel forces and lateral wheel forces (Q- and Y-forces) under preferably constant conditions is of particular importance.
The use of a slab track in combination with the use of elastic members and sensor systems between the rail and the foundation of the rail has so far not led to a satisfactory result, as explained above. In further known measuring systems, the sensor system is carried out through direct applications on real ballast track systems in a manner which is metrologically not optimal or is implemented by means of measuring tracks which do not correspond to the real behavior of a ballast track because the measuring tracks are constructed in a relatively stiff manner.